# Belgium and Luxembourg compared Belgium and Luxembourg side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 3 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bel-vs-lux Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Belgium: 4 October 1830 — Belgium declares independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands - Luxembourg: 963 — Siegfried acquires the fort of Lucilinburhuc ## Economy | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $671 B | 2024 | $93 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $56,615 | 2024 | $137,782 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 1.1% | 2024 | 0.4% | 2024 | | Inflation | 3.1% | 2024 | 2.1% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 158.9% | 2024 | 351.3% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 12 m | 2024 | 677,000 | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 82.3 yrs | 2024 | 83.2 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 87.6% | 2024 | 94.8% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.4 | 2024 | 1.3 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 83.1 | 2024 | 86.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 68.0 | 2024 | 84.2 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 74.6 | 2024 | 91.0 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 74.5 | 2024 | 83.9 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 79.0 | 2024 | 87.3 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 77.6 | 2024 | 88.7 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 10.8% | 2023 | 5.9% | 2024 | | Physicians | 3.57 | 2022 | 2.98 | 2017 | | Under-5 mortality | 3.7 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | 99.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 99.5% | 2024 | 99.7% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Education spending | 6.3% | 2022 | 3.7% | 2022 | | Primary enrolment | 102.1% | 2023 | 99.2% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 143.0% | 2023 | 108.6% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 82.1% | 2023 | 22.4% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 3.3% | 2023 | 1.1% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 5,990 | 2023 | 5,359 | 2023 | | Internet users | 95.8% | 2024 | 99.1% | 2025 | | Mobile subscriptions | 104 | 2024 | 144 | 2023 | | High-tech exports | 20.4% | 2024 | 5.1% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 30,494 km² | 2023 | 2,574 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 22.6% | 2023 | 34.5% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 44.4% | 2023 | 51.7% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 7.3 | 2024 | 10.6 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 11.7% | 2021 | 20.5% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Belgium | Observed | Luxembourg | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.3% | 2024 | 1.0% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $8.6 B | 2024 | $872 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 24,000 | 2020 | 1,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BEL.md and https://terralore.co/country/LUX.md. ## Entangled histories (3 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1839: **Treaty of London: the cession to Belgium** — The 1839 Treaty of London partitioned the Grand Duchy a third time, ceding its larger French-speaking western half to the new kingdom of Belgium while confirming the independence of the German-speaking remainder. (from the Luxembourg chronicle; sources: The history of the Nassau dynasty; History of the city of Luxembourg) - 5 Sep 1944: **The Benelux customs convention** — The exiled governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed a customs union in London on 5 September 1944, launching the Benelux that entered into force in 1948 and was deepened by the 1958 Economic Union. (from the Luxembourg chronicle; sources: The Benelux; Benelux Union: About us; Benelux: the first organisations and cooperative ventures in post-war Europe) - 1951: **Founding member of the ECSC** — Following the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950, Luxembourg joined Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany as a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, operating from 1952. (from the Luxembourg chronicle; sources: The Schuman Declaration, 9 May 1950; The history of the European Union, 1945-59) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BEL/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/LUX/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Belgium and Luxembourg compared", terralore.co/compare/bel-vs-lux, retrieved .